West Ham have a new cult hero in Konstantinos Mavropanos after his 10/10 display in the 4-0 win over Wolves – but two players may have to go when the Hammers face Palace next.
The Hammers had one job when Wolverhampton Wanderers came to the London Stadium on Friday night – win.
So to do that, and in some style by chipping four goals off their goal difference, means things quite literally couldn’t have gone any better.
The carrot that has been dangling for weeks now was that victory would see West Ham climb out of the Premier League relegation zone while pushing bitter rivals Spurs into the bottom three in the process.
Mavropanos seals West Ham cult hero status – next stop, legend
Tottenham must now beat Sunderland away on Sunday or they will remain in the last relegation slot until at least next weekend.
The psychological impact that will have on the run-in will be fascinating.
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Because the Hammers have the bit between their teeth and nobody more so than Konstantinos Mavropanos.
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West Ham’s Greek god has gone from zero to hero in the last few months, completely transforming his Hammers career.
Mavropanos had become known for making costly mistakes often leading to goals – even when he was having a decent game.
Konstantinos Mavropanos celebrates scoring West Ham's first goal with Jarrod Bowen.
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Concentration, focus and confidence were all big issues for the 6ft 5in centre-back.
But, by his own admission, he has been transformed by Nuno Espirito Santo and Paco Jemez.
Now West Ham have a new cult hero after Mavropanos’ 10/10 display vs Wolves but two players raise concern and could force the manager into a decision when the Hammers head to Crystal Palace next.
Mavropanos was a man mountain at the back for West Ham in the face of some sticky moments as Wolves – who had nothing to lose – went at the hosts in the first half.
The Greece star then made all the difference up the other end scoring not once, but twice to secure West Ham’s much-needed victory.
Walker-Peters and Hermansen raise concerns for West Ham
The first was so important as it settled nerves at the perfect time as Mavropanos – or Mavro-Dona as some are now calling him – opened the scoring with a superb header.
In the second half he then showed he can finish with his feet too, blasting home from a few yards out following a corner to complete a brilliant night for the Irons.
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From day one, Mavropanos has had all the attributes to be a cult hero for West Ham.
That never looked like happening until his turnaround but his performances of late and flurry of important goals have now sealed that status.
If Mavropanos keeps this up for the run-in and West Ham pull off a new great escape, he may even be touted as a legend like Carlos Tevez before him given how huge it is for the Hammers to stay up.
Nuno Espírito Santo and Mads Hermansen after West Ham United v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Premier League
Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images
Mavropanos was man of the match in a display full of top performances from West Ham with Jarrod Bowen, Axel Disasi, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crysencio Summerville all key.
Tomas Soucek and Mateus Fernandes worked brilliantly together in central midfield while Taty and Pablo combined to great effect with the former notching a brace.
While harsh to pick on one or two players after such an emphatic win, there may be question marks over Kyle Walker-Peters and Mads Hermansen when the Hammers face Crystal Palace next week.
Walker-Peters did not have a bad game, but almost all of Wolves’ most dangerous moves came from his side.
Walker-Peters was preferred to Aaron Wan-Bissaka after he was late back from international duty and missed West Ham’s FA Cup exit to Leeds.
Wan-Bissaka brings so much more to the party going forward and should come back in for the trip to face his old club.
Hermansen won’t be dropped after another clean sheet. But his performance was shaky and he was lucky not to concede from free-kicks which would have been comfortably dealt with by Alphonse Areola.
The Dane helps West Ham play out from the back better than Areola, hence Nuno making him the number one.
But Hermansen was unconvincing against Wolves and Areola needs to be on standby to potentially feature in the coming weeks that will decide West Ham’s Premier League fate.
West Ham player ratings vs Wolves:
Hermansen: 6/10, Walker-Peters: 6.5/10, Mavopanos: 10/10, Disasi: 8/10, Diouf: 8/10, Soucek: 8/10, Fernandes: 9/10, Summerville: 8/10, Bowen: 9/10, Taty: 9/10, Pablo: 8/10.
Subs: Wilson, Traore, Potts and Magassa: All 6.5/10.
Nuno: 9/10.
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